Comparison of Washing and Swabbing Procedures for Collecting Genital Fluids To Assess Shedding of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) RNA in Asymptomatic HIV-1-Infected Women

摘要

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA was detected by means of ultrasensitive reverse transcription-PCR assay of 19 cervicovaginal lavage, 21 cervical mucus, 18 vaginal wall, and 17 vaginal fornix paired samples from 25 asymptomatic HIV-1-infected women (76, 84, 72, and 68%, respectively; P > 0.5). Levels of HIV-1 RNA in cervicovaginal wash samples were highly correlated with those in paired endocervical mucus samples (r = 0.71; P = 0.0006), indicating that cervicovaginal washing and endocervical swabbing are equivalent collection procedures.